Contents
Chapter 20
Overview
Mabel’s father visits the hospital two days after her mother’s suicide, coldly delivering the news and implying Mabel may share blame. He evades questions about the unlocked porch door tied to Kitty’s death and leaves for the funeral and London. Later, Daphne Barton reenters Mabel’s life, forging a vital friendship.
Summary
In a hospital room two days after her mother’s death, Mabel’s father arrives impeccably dressed and formally states that her mother has passed, as if Mabel hadn’t witnessed it. He challenges Mabel’s lack of tears, then presses her about what she and her mother discussed before the jump. Mabel answers: Susan McGinty.
A nurse momentarily diffuses the tension. Afterward, Mabel’s father announces the Thursday funeral at St. Mary’s and his imminent departure for London, leaving Mabel in her aunt’s care. When Mabel asks who unlocked the porch door—the detail linked to Kitty’s fatal accident—he offers no answer, seeming almost pleased, and leaves.
Alone and enraged, Mabel hurls Anne of Green Gables against the wall. Daphne Barton, a former kindergarten classmate, appears in the doorway, cheerful in a pink cardigan and slippers, trailing an IV. Daphne reveals she has tuberculosis, has returned from England for her health, and will board at St. Mary’s Brighton.
Daphne energetically proposes friendship, extolling her loyalty and gift of gab. Mabel accepts with a pinkie swear. Daphne spends the afternoon chatting, easing Mabel’s grief, and by nightfall Mabel feels the world lighten; she has found a true friend.
Who Appears
- Mabel Waller (Elsie)Hospitalized after her mother’s suicide; questions her father about Susan McGinty and the unlocked porch door; forms a pinkie-swear friendship with Daphne.
- Mabel’s fatherColdly announces the death, implies blame, evades responsibility about the porch door tied to Kitty’s death, and plans to leave for London after the funeral.
- Daphne BartonFormer kindergarten classmate with TB; returns from England, will board at St. Mary’s; lifts Mabel’s spirits and secures a loyal friendship.
- NursePerforms routine checks, senses tension, briefly interrupts the fraught exchange between Mabel and her father.